Memoryhouse – ‘The Slideshow Effect’

By
nmeFeb 24, 2012

Insipid marshmallow post-rock with no bite

[a]Memoryhouse[/a]’s delightful 2010 EP ‘The Years’ clocked in at just over 12 minutes, within which they elegantly pirouetted between styles: Deerhunter-intricate ambience, submerged house à la [a]M83[/a], even trip-hop. All of which makes the fact that their debut album dolefully abuses one bloodless idea over 42 minutes pretty galling. Opener ‘Little Expressionless Animals’ is named after a David Foster Wallace short, but its mopey rumble and Denise Nouvion’s nasal tones contain none of his bite, and thus it is for the rest of the record; insipid marshmallow post-rock that occasionally sniffs in the direction of [a]Yuck[/a] or [a]Mogwai[/a], but mostly glowers in a dismally cloying, precious nostalgia.